The Smoking Dragon
by First Question
Summary: An event in Naruto's childhood triggers something within him. Maybe the Will of Fire is not just a belief after all? Cunning, goal driven Naruto. Canon events changed or scrapped to suit the future plot better. Pairings are undecided for the moment.
1. Chapter 1

AN: It has been awhile since I've actually sat down to write something so if I'm a bit rusty then please point out to me any problems you see. More so grammar wise, seeing as how I may be fibbing some of the Naruto-verse facts from time to time so that my story will fit overall and not have any strange plot-holes. Rest assured though, any facts I do bend, change or scrap, I will try my best to make sure I don't accidentally create my own plot-holes. Should you see any of those then I'm all ears...or eyes, as the case may be.

Disclaimer: Only saying this once I do not own Naruto. If I did, he wouldn't be such an annoying fool.

* * *

"Naruto! My boy it is good to see you! However, unless these old eyes of mine deceive me...you should be in the academy right now, according to the clock." Said the elderly man sitting behind the desk.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was his name. A strong shinobi, a shrewd political operator, and a kind ruler. Though he was not without the particular ruthlessness that came with being a Kage of a hidden village, he had lived through three Shinobi World Wars after all. This was the Third Hokage. The Professor. The God of Shinobi, which he also happened to be the third of, with the Sage of the Six Paths being the first and Senju Hashirama being second to have that title.

He wore his white and red Kage robes along with his hat that held the kanji for Fire on it. The Hokage ruled over the village of Konoha, located within the Land of Fire. Though that did not seem to matter to the youth that was now pulling his chair up closer to the desk, sitting quite moodily in it and letting his body slump as he got comfortable.

"Jiji!" The boy whined almost pathetically. "If I didn't know any better I'd think you were trying to get rid of me." He pouted. Though he would never admit that he did. Uzumaki Naruto does not pout.

"What a silly notion my boy, it isn't like you come here every other day or anything. Sit in my chair or on my couch and say 'Jiji why must one of my stature and grace mingle among others! Oh my heart!'" Hiruzen made quite a show of suffering that involved a lot of heart clenching before falling forward on his desk.

"Har har jiji. Maybe you should have been an actor instead of a Kage?" Naruto said cheekily. "You know you could always go do that now, let me have the hat and we'll even build a new theater just for you to star in."

The Third chuckled heartily. If he would like to have any visitor it would be Naruto. He was rather smart for a child of twelve. Hiruzen blamed it on the ANBU he had watch over the child since he was, well, a child. They always took the time to teach him little things here and there, more so the female portion of his ANBU who obviously thought he was cute. He had at one point walked in upon Cat showing Naruto how to play Shogi, remarkably the boy had caught on fairly quickly for his age. When he had asked young Naruto about it all he got in response was that everything had a pattern of some sort to follow, like a song.

As Naruto was messing with a pen, one he probably swiped from his sensei Iruka no doubt judging by the initials on the side, Hiruzen got a good look at the boy he had known ever since he was a baby. Naruto had shaggy blond hair that went a bit past his eyes and down past the nape of his neck. He had scars along his cheeks that were almost like claw marks. He imagined that it would look rather intimidating to enemies once he made a name for himself. Naruto was not short, but he was a bit under the average height of his class, about 5 foot 2 inches, where as even some of the girls in his age group were coming in at 5 foot 4 inches.

His clothes were as plain as they came, dark blue pants that had multiple pockets and a shirt that was very much the same, from what he could tell. The sleeves of the shirt went perfectly to the boys wrists and seemed wide enough to hide a weapon or two, the material thick enough that he assumed there must be some sort of mesh in-between the fabrics that acted as armor. He had on a coat as well, it was thick like wool but it did not fold and sway the way that wool coats did. Another layer of protection that probably had quite a few pockets hidden and not so hidden within it. The sleeves of the coat however only went past Naruto's elbows by about two inches. It was a very deep rust color, contrasting but not clashing with his dark blue clothes underneath. The coat went down to the boys shins. All in all he looked rather professional and he would probably break a few hearts as he grew older.

Let it not be said however that Uzumaki Naruto is without his own oddities. He wore a hat that was old, very old and worn. Not so much in the way that there were holes in it, but in the way that the hat had obviously seen quite a bit of the elements. He imagined it had been sat on by accident quite the few number of times over the years as well. It was a strange hat. Wide brimmed but more oval in shape than anything else. On one edge of the hat was an earring, he had often seen Naruto toying with it when he was thinking.

Letting his mind wander a bit farther, Hiruzen remembered the day that Naruto had acquired the hat. ANBU were watching him after the boy had run from the orphanage in tears one day. The cruel words Naruto had relayed to him still made his blood boil. As it was he had immediately set out to have a few cruel words of his own with the orphanage matrons and was walking back into his office where he knew the boy was sleeping on the couch. He had seen the hat in his grip, thought nothing of it, then looked back again just to make sure he wasn't going senile in his old age.

Remembering clearly he had called out to his ANBU and asked "Who gave Naruto the hat?"

It was silent for a moment, before the ANBU within his office burst from every corner and stared at the boy, so baffled by the fact that he had somehow gotten a hold of this hat and none of them had noticed. If anyone had come within one hundred feet of the room they would have noticed but he must have gotten the hat sometime between the Hokage leaving and coming back right?

After a few stuttered apologies from his ANBU and a couple paranoid rantings about some sort of invisible specter giving Naruto the hat for safe keeping, things had gotten back to normal. Checking the hat over for seals or any sort of tracking devices he found none. Hiruzen had resolved to keep an eye on Naruto, just in case it really was a ghost, though he very much doubted that.

Bringing himself out of his thoughts he caught the tail end of Naruto's question. "I'm sorry Naruto I was thinking about love come and gone, what was it you said?" Hiruzen smiled. Naruto twitched.

"I asked what you were smoking, Jiji." The Third grabbed at his heart again.

"Well I never..." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"I meant literally, it smells pretty good. Maybe I have just gotten use to it or somethin', either way it still smells nice." Hiruzen blinked owlishly while looking at his pipe. He almost forgot he was even smoking it still, maybe he really was getting old.

"Well this particular type is called...black something or another. My student usually brings them back for me, but he always just dumps it all into a storage scroll and gives it to me whenever we see each other." Jiraiya, his student, had mentioned the name to him once, he could not remember it to save his life.

Naruto seemed to focus on the pipe for a bit. Closing his eyes and breathing through his nose he let the aroma fill his senses. "Well since I'm here anyway, you wanna have a game of shogi, old man?" Nodding, Hiruzen pulled out the shogi board from underneath his desk and they started to set it up. It only took a few seconds, this was a practiced ritual by them ever since Naruto learned that no matter how close he felt like he was, the Third would always checkmate him.

The game started and it was mostly silent. Naruto learned from the Hokage himself that patience was what helped him live for so long and he took it to heart. Hiruzen was proud of Naruto, he was like a grandson and a friend rolled into one, and while he could not help Naruto without playing favorites, he could always impart whatever wisdom he felt like he should to help him along his path.

Naruto had always been observant, he realized. Several years ago he had gotten a glimpse of Hiruzen with his guard down. He imagined he probably looked so old and tired to the boy, and so sad. As it was he was thinking about his late wife Biwako when Naruto had seen him. The boy had hugged him with all the strength he had in his little arms at the time.

"I'm going to be Hokage one day Jiji, I'll take that hat from you, so you don't ever have to look like that again." The little boy had proclaimed into his Hokage robes. It warmed his heart, if he wasn't the hardened warrior he was then Hiruzen would have probably wept at the gesture.

Yes, if there was anyone he would want to take over after himself it would be this boy. He had never told the boy of the Will of Fire that he so vehemently believed in. Not because the boy would not listen, heavens no, but because he never needed to. Naruto seemed to be the walking definition of the Will of Fire and now he just had to wait until he could hand over the position. He desperately hoped this old body of his held out until that day, he very much wished to see it.

"Damnit. What am I doing wrong Jiji?" Naruto questioned unhappily. Hiruzen had just checkmated him thoroughly, it was even faster than it had been over the weekend. How could he be getting even worse?

The Third chuckled lightly and waved his hand over the board. "Well tell me what you see here first."

Naruto began toying with the earring on his hat, he was thinking. The hat shadowed his eyes as they darted back and forth across the board, probably retracing his moves, Hiruzen thought. Several minutes later Naruto looked back up at him.

"I missed an opening I could have used against you, but even if I did wouldn't I have lost more than I gained anyway?" Naruto asked. His brows were furrowed as he tried to think of something else that could have made him lose so quickly.

Seeing his confusion Hiruzen decided to elaborate a bit more starting from where Naruto left off.

"Yes, you did miss a chance you could have used against me. It is also true that you may have lost more than what you had gained but you also have to look at the bigger picture at times. With that move you could have surprised me enough into making a mistake, blocked one of my moves for a future plan, or even just delayed the inevitable for a time as you waited for another opening."

Sighing despondently Naruto looked back to the board as he spoke. "I always try to plan three moves ahead but you will always have ten more to counter. How could I possibly beat that?"

"Ah, in our line of work that is a question we will all ask ourselves from time to time." Said Hiruzen. "Would you like to know what I saw when we were playing Naruto?"

Naruto nodded as he leaned forward in his chair, hoping to understand from a Kage's point of view his own failings.

"I saw hesitation. Naruto. You hesitated to make that move because you were being much too cautious."

The boy seemed flabbergasted "But you have always said that being cautious is a trait every shinobi should have!" Cried Naruto.

Hiruzen stopped him with a raise of his hand, putting his pipe down to give Naruto his full attention. "Caution is a virtue as they say but being too cautious will lead to hesitation and hesitation for any shinobi can kill you just as easily as not being cautious enough could." Realization seemed to flash across Naruto's eyes.

"Balance. The key is for balance." Hiruzen smiled. The boy was so very bright, he would make a wonderful shinobi.

"Exactly right. You were too cautious because you knew how good I was. It forced you to hesitate, you didn't take the opening because the thought that crossed your mind was 'It might not work.' but you cannot have such thoughts. Just like how every plan will never survive first contact, no victory is ever really assured and we cannot expect them to be or we will definitely lose. Be cautious Naruto, but never hesitate."

Seeing Naruto nod his head in understanding he started putting away the board. "We will talk more later my boy, I should probably get back to these reports now. Make sure you attend the academy tomorrow. You only have a couple days left do you not?"

"About a week left Jiji. I'll see you later!" Naruto called out as he headed towards the office door.

The door shut with a soft click and Hiruzen was left alone with his thoughts once more. Naruto would not be taking the normal exam like the other students. Naruto was a Jinchuriki, a jailer for the Kyubi no Yoko. Twelve years ago it had forced itself right into their gates and began wreaking havoc among his village. The Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, sealed the beast into Naruto before succumbing to the technique he had used to do it.

A much better kept secret than Naruto being a Jinchuriki was that the man was also Naruto's father. Minato could not ask this of another parent if he himself could not sacrifice the same, at least that was what his thought process was.

The Fourth had many enemies after the Third Shinobi World War and they would have probably tried to assassinate his only son if they knew he existed. Hiruzen gave Naruto his mother's last name Uzumaki to hide him in plain sight. Although, while he could confirm that Minato was dead, he had seen the body after all, he could not confirm the same with Uzumaki Kushina, Naruto's mother. That would forever bother him. The boy could have a mother out there somewhere, but after twelve years he didn't have much hope for that left.

Hiruzen did his best to give the boy a decent life, but most of the older generation that knew what he was were bitter and jaded towards him. Naruto was a deeply hurt child and most of his childhood was very lonely. Even now he was probably still hurting, but it is the reason his door is always open for Naruto, the least he could do happened to be the best he could as well. That would always pain him. The villagers would never abuse him physically, no they understood that such a thing would bring the wrath of the Hokage upon them like a lightning strike. Emotionally and mentally hurting the child was out of his hands though. As much as he would like to, he could not force people to be kind.

Shaking off his current train of thought Hiruzen recalled when Naruto had first started learning how to do shinobi techniques. The boy had more than enough chakra for the three academy techniques, but nothing they tried seemed to work except for the Henge. After calling in a Hyuga and an Uchiha they had quickly realized the problem. While Naruto could use chakra and chakra techniques, they needed to be connected with himself or the chakra he used to create the technique would simply disperse like water vapor.

A curious thing if he ever saw one, but he was no stranger to such things and it was not like they did not have shinobi very similar to Naruto. Rock Lee was a relatively new genin that couldn't do any shinobi techniques whatsoever, but he passed the exam set for him because his stealth was decent and his taijutsu was more on par with a low chunin than a genin. Under the watchful eye of Maito Gai he would make something wonderful of himself, and so would Naruto. As long as his other shinobi qualities were up to snuff according to his and his advisers requirements then Naruto would be a genin by the end of this week.

Getting back to signing papers, Hiruzen pretended not to hear the light snore of the ANBU who got the position behind the couch today. _"Well."_ Hiruzen thought. _"At least he can hide and sleep at the same time."_

* * *

Naruto was going through the separate parts of the taijutsu style he was trying to create. The academy style made him feel like he had two left feet so he took it upon himself to read up on some styles that were open to the public in the library. He smirked lightly, some of them were pretty devastating just on their own. A thought occurred to him as he was reading about them though.

If he could find them, in a public library that even non-shinobi could get into, what's to say that no one else out in the world could know exactly how the styles worked too? Maybe were even masters of the style?

He decided that he needed to create something that no one had seen before, so he started splicing forms together from styles he had read about. Dedicating some time every day to practicing them separately then fusing them together into something that was fluid. It was difficult to judge whether he was making progress or if the style was forming nicely without any huge holes in his stances but he had already partially figured a way to do it, at least until he met someone who was better at taijutsu than he was.

Stretching to get himself as loose as he could, Naruto started walking towards the flowing river.

"Alright, it's just constantly flowing your chakra along with the water. Constantly flowing." Naruto muttered. Breathing deeply, he walked out onto the water with shaky legs. The past few weeks consisted of him trying to not only master water walking now that tree walking was second nature to him, but also seeing his reflection in the clear water as he practiced so he could judge his stances.

It was a ramshackle solution he knew, but it was the best he had at the moment. It did help him kill two birds with one stone and he could feel himself getting better every day, but it would still be awhile until he could say he had mastered water walking completely.

Now that he was somewhat firmly grounded, the humor in the statement not lost on him, he started mixing his previously practiced forms together against an imaginary opponent. Occasionally he would slip on his control and sink his foot into the water before regaining it.

He loved to train here. It was a pretty small clearing, enough to let loose with taijutsu all you want but too dense for any serious ninjutsu training. The river he was next to was near the back part of the clearing, across the river was an even denser forest that he never really felt the need to explore. He didn't have any training posts or targets but old strong trees worked just fine for him.

It was also quiet. Naruto loved quiet. It allowed him to concentrate all of his energy into his training. No one would "stumble" upon him here, so hardly will his concentration be broken. Especially when training something so advanced as his own taijutsu style.

The style he was trying to create would be quick and ruthless. It would require great balance and a very strong upper body, grappling an enemy and throwing them off balance. Killing them quickly or causing them great pain using the momentum of his own body and the body of his enemy as a focal point.

After learning about his inability to use jutsu that was not within contact of himself he immediately began studying and asking any shinobi he came across questions about defensive techniques that focused on the body. An ANBU with a dog mask told him that in the Third Shinobi World War there were Iwa-nin that could use Doton(Earth) to strengthen their bodies and extremities to fight.

Naruto already knew he did not have a Doton affinity so that particular jutsu recreation was out. He decided to try something else. _"If chakra can enhance anything just by itself then the premise should be the same right?" _Naruto had thought.

This experiment proved to bear fruit as the results of trying to strengthen his entire body did give him a sort of chakra armor, but it used way too much chakra and Naruto really didn't want to light up like a shooting star every time he used it.

This lead him to beginning his chakra control training very early, the information for such things were not hard to find, especially if you could chat up a couple of pretty chunin girls as an innocent academy student. Naruto learned through trial and error that if he wanted this to work he needed to first weave his chakra in such a way that it was like overlapping layers of mesh and less like a skin tight bubble suit. He had tried that first and almost suffocated himself.

Once he had the required chakra control to weave it correctly, he had to make sure it was weaved in layers underneath his skin and ascending to the top skin layer. In this way his skin would essentially also be armor in and of itself, but the chakra control for such a thing was still a little out of his reach so the most his could do was weave enough chakra to go about a fourth through his skin.

Still useful, but consumed more chakra than it should. He wasn't put out by it though, he would master this and any other skills he created or learned. Just like Jiji did. No one had made a bigger impact on his life than the Third. He never lied about being Hokage, he would climb his way up to that position no matter what it took.

He didn't have a one track mind though, there were other dreams he wished for.

"If only if only..." Naruto whispered to the wind.

Spending several more hours training his taijutsu and chakra control the day had already shifted into night, he was ready to start dragging himself home to sleep, then he felt the need to move. Diving hard to the right he just barely missed having his head cleaved off by a kunai. Hitting the ground in a roll he sprang back up and shot a kunai out of each sleeve and into his waiting palms. Bringing them both up to block the flurry of shuriken sent his way he managed to only get a small cut on his cheek for his efforts.

"Who are you!?" Naruto called out. Whoever had attacked him had already fled into the trees again. He was at a disadvantage. His options were few, stay in one place and possibly die, or venture out and try to flee which may lead into a trap, also ending in possible death.

Channeling chakra to his ears Naruto waited for anything that could tell him where this person was. A whistling noise came from above, he jumped and saw that he had just dodged a windmill shuriken. Following it was a volley of kunai aimed right for him.

Palming several kunai he tried to knock them off course. A couple got through and struck his left arm and shoulder. "Fuck..." He grounded out. They were in pretty deep, and now he only had one arm to work with.

"_This was a wonderful day to leave your sword at home Naruto, good show you ass."_ Naruto chastised himself. Grabbing hold of another kunai Naruto ran straight towards the trees, hoping to make it close enough to the village to make some sort of signal. He didn't get far, the assailant appeared next to him in a shunshin and kicked him right back into the clearing.

Naruto skidded across the ground a few yards before flipping himself back onto his feet. The man was illuminated by the moonlight now.

"Mizuki...I can hardly say I am surprised but I have to wonder what you gain from this." Naruto questioned. Mizuki was an ordinary looking chunin unless you count his silver-white hair as odd. He wore a standard chunin flak jacket with a black shirt underneath and black pants.

"_What is that scroll he is carrying?"_ Naruto wondered. It seemed oddly familiar.

Mizuki frowned at him.

"This night would have been a lot easier if you weren't so suspicious of me at every turn." Mizuki admitted. "I had a plan when you first joined the academy to use you to get this scroll for me. You always seemed to know I was faking my kindness towards you though, so I had to do it myself."

Naruto shook his head lightly, keeping his eyes firmly on Mizuki for any hint of movement. "Fake smiles have a habit of looking very strained. Like you are trying to literally frown upside down. You learn to spot them." He answered.

A blur of movement forced him to bring his kunai up quickly, blocking Mizuki's kunai from slitting his throat. Mizuki brought a second kunai up to stab through his kidney but Naruto was able to dance backwards away from it. This continued for several minutes as Naruto tried to block and dodge all of Mizuki's strikes.

Blocking another swipe to his stomach Naruto threw his kunai point blank at Mizuki's face. He was able to tilt his head to avoid it, but so focused on the kunai he was unable to block the knee that shot up right under his ribs, knocking the air out of his lungs. Mizuki jumped backwards to give himself some reprieve as Naruto pulled another kunai out.

Panting heavily, Naruto tried to recollect his thoughts. If Mizuki was stealing something then why would he waste time with him here?

Unless the man was waiting for someone to come help him escape he really didn't have any reason to be fighting with him. They would know it was Mizuki when they realized he was missing from Konoha so killing him to hide his own identity wasn't the reason either.

"As much as I hate to admit this Mizuki, I've barely held you off by the skin of my teeth. Why try and kill me if you already got what you wanted?" Naruto was stalling for time. He didn't want to just let him leave with whatever he had taken. Hopefully ANBU would find them soon.

Mizuki snorted lightly. "If you really want to know, it's because I was ordered to." He smirked a bit, the light from the moon made it look menacing. "Say...Naruto-kun...did you know that you hold the Kyubi no Yoko within your body?" Taking a step forward his smirk widened.

"You aren't even really you anymore you know? Just a vessel...until the demon claws its way back out of you!" Taking a handful of shuriken out Mizuki threw them with all his strength at the young jinchuriki, thinking the revelation would leave him too stunned to move.

Knocking most of them out of the air Naruto only grunted when two shurikens hit him in the chest. These weren't reinforced with chakra like the kunai still sticking out of his body were, they didn't penetrate his coat and shirt.

"I've known about the Kyubi for a long time Mizuki. You will have to try harder than that if you want to shock me." Staring Mizuki down defiantly he wondered if maybe that wasn't the correct thing to say. Mizuki's face twisted into a terrible grimace, being shown up by a kid who wasn't even a genin yet was insulting, and he was running out of time to actually escape this place.

Performing another shunshin he appeared behind Naruto and swept his feet out from underneath him, the kunai in his hand aimed straight for his heart. He was ending this now, there was still time to leave.

Naruto wasn't nearly fast enough to react to Mizuki in his weakened state. As he fell watching the kunai about to end his life he recalled Jiji's words from several days ago. _"Never hesitate." _It echoed through his mind, focusing as much chakra as he could to the skin above his heart Naruto weaved it faster than he ever had before, trying to make it as strong and durable as possible. He felt the kunai pierce his chest as his own kunai plunged into Mizuki's stomach.

Screaming in surprise and agony Mizuki fell to his knees. _"The brat hit something important."_ He thought as his vision began to darken around the edges. _"How the hell did my...kunai...stop?"_ Was the last thought Mizuki had, before crumpling to the dirt.

As Naruto lay wheezing on the ground he wondered if his last ditch plan had worked, everything hurt, that was a good sign, it meant he wasn't in the afterlife yet. He was having trouble seeing though, not such a good sign. Squinting up at the sky he saw what seemed to be a very blurry Hokage, at least that's what he hoped it was. Naruto let sleep take him over. He was spent, absolutely spent.

* * *

AN: Shit? Meh? Decent? Good?

I have a pretty solid plot in mind. I just need to figure out how to write it in an interesting and readable way. I've done my best with the grammar and punctuation but I've always been told that I do have a habit of forgetting everything I've ever learned about writing sometimes so hopefully you will catch something that I miss or don't know about.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I received some great feedback, both in reviews and according to favorite/follower ratio so thank you very much to everyone who read! I'll try to keep the Author Notes concise and respond to as many question as I can without it becoming very annoying.**

**reginald D. Uchiha: I have a specific view of the Naruto that I've created, he may be a little like Sun Tzu later but he will not be a complete reincarnation of him, just similar. My biggest issue right now is making him the way I want without it being tacky.**

**Erasels: The summary will make sense in the future, I made it vague on purpose. After however many dozens of stories I've read I have realized one thing about myself. The Super-Kage Bunshin-Naruto-Training-Method-of-Awesome irks me to no end and that is sort of where this handicapped Naruto idea popped into my head. I've seen other stories where he could do no jutsu at all, but I felt like Lee already had that covered. Rasengan is a possibility but if I can't figure a way to fit it realistically into the boundaries I've set then I won't be able to.**

**dalulzing: Well as I see it, basic survival is something that should already taught in the academy along with weapon proficiency, they are encouraged to do it outside of the academy to get better seeing as you only have so many hours in the academy but they do still have it. He will have all the basics that a soldier will need along with basic shuriken and kunai proficiency but I probably wont mention it unless it is in passing because I figure that most shinobi will have a decent amount of skill with them as they progress anyway. Regarding the body enhancement techniques though, while they are common sort of, most of the time they are just shoving chakra into an area for a boost in strength or stamina. If it was that easy to just throw tons and tons of chakra into an area and have it be the end all of offense and defense then everyone would be like Tsunade and her super strength really wouldn't mean anything at all. That is basically the essence I was going for. His defense will be more complicated and hard to replicate unless he teaches it to someone himself. Just like how Tsunade has to teach her super strength technique on her own. **

**I believe that is all the questions I have received thus far so if anyone has any questions then please leave them in the reviews and I will either put it before or after the chapter depending on how many there are. I wont promise that I will update at the same time every month or anything, but eventually I will get around to updating any of my stories that I happen to have going, so far only this one. If I ever get to the point where I just can't because I've done something silly and backed my story into a corner or something then I will say something, but I will try and fix it first, even if it means going back and editing a bit to fix whatever it is I had done.**

* * *

_The silence was so tense in the tiny little weapons shop. Naruto couldn't help be stare despondently at the very old and rusted blade he had been given._

"_My money is worth more than this. I paid for a lot more than this..." Naruto whispered. He wasn't really sure what to say right now. Was this a joke?_

_The man snorted and kept on cleaning his counter top. "That is the best you're getting from me. No refunds brat." Throwing the towel onto his shoulder he disappeared into the back of his shop, leaving Naruto on his own._

_He wanted to scream. To yell and smash and demand to be treated just as any other customer. Turning the katana over he almost bit his tongue in two. It had been carved haphazardly into the side of his weapon._

_**CURSED**_

* * *

Blinking slowly Naruto began to wake. It smelled too clean, he was in the hospital right now. He shook off the remnant emotions in his chest, the past needed to stay where it belonged. Getting up from the bed he was laying in, Naruto very quickly became aware that he was wearing one of their damn hospital gowns. He shivered.

"I hate these things. If they wanna' see my ass all they gotta do is ask." He muttered bitterly. The gowns gave the impression of clothes but there would always be a draft in the back. It was terrible.

"As firm as your buttocks is Naruto-kun, please lay back down for a moment." Jumping slightly, he turned back around to the door. Oh, it was Kagura-san. She was the nurse that the Third usually spoke to regarding any updates when his ninja came in for treatment or physicals. Supposedly she was offered a much higher position but turned it down, opting to stay as a nurse so she could continue to have more face time with any patients that came through.

Sitting down on the bed, he let the young nurse give him a routine check over. "How are you today Kagura-san?" Naruto greeted with a smile.

"Better than you last night that's for sure." She admonished him with an eyebrow raise.

"Sorry about making you take care of me again." Scratching the back of his head he gave her a sheepish smile. She rolled her eyes.

"Don't be silly, it's my job, but still you almost got your heart skewered." Looking around conspiratorially, she lowered her voice. "It's a little above my pay grade but could you tell me what happened?" She whispered. "I wont tell a soul pretty please Naruto-kun come on!"

Backing up a bit Naruto chuckled nervously. "I don't think I can tell ya' that. I'm sorry Kagura-san."

She huffed and turned around to write down on his clipboard. Giving it a couple of checks she put it under her arm and looked over her shoulder at him. "Your clothes are cleaned and in the bathroom, I'll just go sign you out myself, I know you wont wait and I've already made sure you were fine." Giving him a soft smile she opened the door and exited the room.

Kagura was a wonderful. She never made him feel isolated, she understood some of the shinobi that came through better then they themselves did. Standing up again, he went into the bathroom to quickly shower and leave. If the calender and clock were correct then he didn't really have a lot of time to make it to the academy.

Tossing on all his clothes hurriedly, he made sure he had all the gear he was admitted with then shot out of the open window. He needed to grab his sword from home, then make it to the academy before they started rattling off names for the test.

A minute after he left a doctor walked into the room with his nose in a folder.

"Well Uzumaki-san, we seem to be here once more. Let us just...Uzumaki-san?" Scanning the room slowly he noticed the open window. "...Again?"

* * *

As Naruto was nearing his apartment, little bits of last night were constantly running through his head. What happened to Mizuki after he fell unconscious? He knew his kunai connected, he felt it, but Jiji wasn't there when he woke up to tell him anything. Kagura, as wonderful was she was, always liked to be in the know. She probably would have mentioned something to him if she knew.

Then again. She was still a ninja despite working primarily in the hospital, Kagura could probably lie like nobodies business so many she wouldn't have said anything.

Mizuki was a traitor so ANBU probably brought him to a secure place to interrogate him if he was still alive. If he was dead though...he almost regretted aiming to kill. Information was invaluable and he might have killed a very valuable source of information last night.

Killed.

It didn't occur to him until he had acknowledged it in this moment but he might have killed last night. Snuffed out a persons life and erased their future. If Mizuki was dead then all that was left of him would be a slowly decaying corpse and memories from those who knew him. Whether they be good or bad. It was starting to cloud his mind. He shook the thoughts away.

"I can't do a damn thing until I find out what actually happened. He might not even be dead." Naruto growled to himself. Running circles in his head would help nothing.

Jumping onto his window ledge, he opened it quickly and slipped inside to grab his sword and leave. His apartment was small. No actual bedrooms, just a bathroom and one room that was his bedroom, living room, and kitchen packed into one. Easy to decorate and clean, that's how he saw it. As he was getting ready to rocket himself back out of the small apartment though, the clock caught his attention.

5:50PM

That was odd. When he left the hospital the clock had said it was only 1:00PM. Quickly throwing himself out the window he flipped onto the roof and took in the position of the sun. Standing still for a minute he contemplated what to do. The hospital clock was horribly off. Would anyone still even be at the academy right now?

Taking off again Naruto hoped that he could at the very least still test even if he could not be put on a team immediately. His gut was curling in on itself. Why did this shit have to happen to him?

* * *

There was no one here at all. The entire classroom was empty. It looked like Iruka had already gone home for today as well. Exhaling slowly, Naruto sat down on a desk to catch his breath.

He had missed the graduation test. A specialized graduation test that had been approved by the Hokage himself. That alone worried him. What if this was his only chance? A silly notion, Jiji wouldn't let a potential soldier go to waste just because of a missed deadline. His advisers might force the issue though. They weren't nearly as ruthless as Jiji was and in these years of peace they might want to uphold the law more so than they would if they were at war.

"As if I can help getting attacked by a traitor." Naruto grumbled. Laying back across two desks he closed his eyes. He would see Jiji then. If waiting was what he had to do then so be it. All it really meant was another year of training and preparation. He couldn't lie and say he wasn't disappointed though.

A door opening loudly made him shoot up. In the doorway stood a shinobi he hadn't seen around all that much. His hair was brown and curly. It stuck close together and puffed at the top a little. He had a heavy build, not nearly as much as an Akimichi, but you could still see it clearly in his face.

He had an unzipped flak jacket and a belt with several different marked scrolls held within it. His hitai-ate(forehead protector) was placed firmly against his forehead and he had bandages around his ankles.

"You do know that everyone has gone home already don't you?" The man questioned. Naruto chuckled and gave the man a nod.

"I know. I was suppose to be here actually. Woke up in the hospital instead and the testing was already over." Laying back again he stared up at the ceiling. Idly, he wondered why the man was here if he knew that everyone was home already.

A low groaning caught his attention as the shinobi mimicked his actions and laid out on the desks a foot or two away. "Saw you rushing into the building like a bat out of hell. Thought I should check it out."

Oh, so that was why. Part of him wanted to tell the man to stop reading his mind, he didn't look like a Yamanaka though.

"Not a Yamanaka. Just that good. Besides I wouldn't look good as a blonde." He shot the man a dirty look. The man laughed.

"How?" Naruto pushed.

"You have a pretty good poker face, but I'm still a jonin for a reason. My name is Kanden Tekuno. Nice to meet you..." Tekuno droned.

"Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet you as well Tekuno-san." Naruto extended. He knew that a jonin was well above him at the moment, but he didn't think he was that easy to read.

Tekuno and Naruto were silent for the next few minutes. Naruto just looking into the bland ceiling and letting his mind wander while Tekuno was hoping beyond hope that the desks here weren't as old as they felt or he was probably going to fall embarrassingly as one of them broke or something.

"They creek but the desks aren't actually that old." Naruto drawled noncommittally. He heard Tekuno choke on air slightly as they looked towards each other. Naruto raised an eyebrow in the mans direction. Tekuno laughed heartily.

"You're better than I gave you credit for." Chuckling lightly, they let silence fall over them once more.

The ticking clock being the only sound between them was getting on Tekuno's nerves, he didn't really enjoy silence.

"What are you gonna' do about the test then? If you were in the hospital it can hardly be helped that you couldn't make it." Tekuno asked.

Naruto made an interesting noise between a grunt and a hum. Absently toying with the earring on his hat as he answered.

"I'll see the Hokage first. If nothing can be done then I suppose I'll just be waiting until next year. Not the ideal situation but I'll live through it if that happens." Looking over at Tekuno he saw him nodding slightly.

"If you get it all straightened out then hopefully you get placed on my team. Several teams are actually short one, ours being among them. Hokage-sama didn't really enjoy the turn out this year. We might only have one team pass this year if we don't come to a consensus about what to do with all the uneven teams." Tekuno passed on.

Naruto placed his hat over his face with a frown. This made no sense. Jiji wouldn't force teams to not have members. Even if there were quite a few dropouts right after the graduation he would still move the teams around to fix it, he wouldn't just force them to go back...unless he was trying for very specific teams this year and he didn't want to switch them around. Even so, several teams all being booted back into the academy is a little too much for something like preferenced teams to come into play isn't it?

He had to talk to him. This day was eating at his nerves already. Putting his hat back on normally he bid Tekuno a hasty farewell before heading towards the tower. This day was turning out very strange. He needed to talk to the one person he could always bounce his thoughts and fears off of.

* * *

Empty. The goddamn tower was empty?! He had already checked for a genjutsu using pain several times and part of him wondered why the damn lights would be off as well. This wasn't a convenience store!

The sun was beginning to set, the shadows it cast through the windows were a lot eerier than they should have been. Naruto blamed his nerves.

Coming to the Hokage's Office he decided to channel chakra to his ears just in case and slowly opened the door...it was fucking dark in here too! What was going on?!

Naruto slipped into the room and instantly felt surrounded, his hand dropped to his sword as the lights blinded him. Jovial laughing stayed his hand, his vision cleared and he saw that the room was filled with ANBU all wearing their masks and the Hokage leaning back in his chair without a care in the world.

"...I don't really get it." Naruto deadpanned at them. They laughed harder.

Cat walked over from the left side of the office and gave his back a good smack. "You did it obviously. We were all told just today that Hokage-sama passed you on your exam! Congratulations Naruto!" This declaration was followed by wolf whistles and clapping. He was so very confused. He had passed? Did he sleep test? Half of him wanted to just take a bow and say thank you all around but he really needed to know what was going on.

Opening his mouth to say something he saw Hiruzen tilt his head slightly. That was closest he could get to shaking his head without giving it away. Naruto knew what that meant, they would be talking later.

Following along, he enjoyed his time with the ANBU who were able to show. Naruto had known most of them since he was a baby, it was one of the best couple of hours he had ever had. They had broken out the sake to commemorate, Cat had tapped into her inner mother and chewed the others out for being bad influences, meanwhile he and Shark had very quickly and quietly chugged right behind her back. This was followed by a lot of laughing and running away from swords as they all tried not to screw up the office under the watchful eyes of their leader.

Hiruzen happened to have his own special jug of sake. Not really surprising, being the Hokage and all. Though Bear did try to get a swig of it at one point and ended up being tossed right onto Mouse who spilled sake all over herself and proceeded to kick Bear straight out the window.

They continued late into the night. The sun had long since set, the ANBU who needed to patrol had left already and some were just now heading home. Those that needed to stay and protect the Hokage were told to head home and get some sleep as well after everything had been cleaned up. It was only the two of them now.

Taking out his pipe, Hiruzen quickly loaded and lit it with practiced ease. Sipping gentle puffs as he leaned back, the old leader gave the boy a calculative gaze. "You look like you are about to explode with questions. Ask away."

Trying his best to contain all the thoughts he had Naruto decided to start small.

"Why would there be so many teams with missing members? Even if they were highly specialized teams I don't think you would waste the man power or the talent they could possibly have by just being picky and unmoving." Naruto questioned in one breath.

Coughing once, the Hokage had the decency to look embarrassed. "That was actually mischief on my part. There were four teams that didn't have a member because after the graduation test I sent ANBU to scare the living daylights out of them..." Naruto couldn't keep the twitch from affecting his eyebrow.

"Alright maybe I didn't explain that well. Those four teams had students in them who were being backed by some of the well known clans. The clans were trying to push me to make certain teams and I relented simply so I could force this outcome and make them re-take a year and waste time." Seeing Naruto put his face in his hands Hiruzen could only laugh. He had to get his kicks somehow. The clans usually provided that kick as it so happened.

Getting over the fact that his leader was a bit more eccentric than he ever thought, Naruto looked up only to see a nicely lacquered wooden box being handed to him. Taking it slowly he opened it to find an expensively crafted pipe. It was a dark russet color with a decently sized stem that could hang from his jaw. He looked back up just in time to catch a pouch of tobacco that was being tossed in his direction.

"Smoke with me. Watch how I pack and light mine." Hiruzen said. He showed him quickly how to tamp the tobacco inside the chamber then how to light it and keep it lit. It was easier than Naruto imagined and the taste of the tobacco was actually rather nice. It reminded him of trees and rain water. They sat in silence for a few moments before Hiruzen broke it.

"I believe I already know the next questions you are going to ask so let me lead from here will you my boy?" He murmured softly. Naruto nodded weakly. Never before had Naruto been nervous in front of the Hokage, what was so different now?

Slowly setting his pipe onto a stand the Third Hokage threaded his fingers under his chin and closed his eyes. "The scroll you saw with Mizuki last night was the Scroll of Seals. I'm sure you remember it. The First Hokage sealed it because he felt that some of the techniques within were too dangerous for regular use." Naruto gave him another nod.

"Do you really think he could have taken such a thing, an average chunin like Mizuki, without my noticing?" Hiruzen posed to him.

Several thoughts sped through his head at that sentence, but the one he latched onto was- "You knew he had it all along." Hiruzen nodded.

Things were falling into place rapidly. Hiruzen kept going.

"Mizuki we knew was a traitor, but only recently. During the night this past week I decided to take a Yamanaka and dive into his head. We searched for who he might have been working with, what he might be after. Things of that nature." Picking up his pipe once more Hiruzen pushed forward. "We learned that he was working for an S Rank traitor from Konoha and I decided to not waste the opportunity. I impersonated the man he was working with, I told him how to get in so he could steal the scroll, then I ordered him to assassinate you, Naruto."

Naruto forced himself to breath correctly. His hands were shaking in his lap, he swallowed thickly. Trying to stomp down the sickness he could feel rising was a difficult task while thinking.

Several possibilities were here. The man he had come to trust was cruel and wanted to see him hurt. This was the worst outcome, he tried not to let it rule his thoughts.

Things hadn't gone as planned and he now respected him somewhat and that was why he was telling him this now. No hard feelings, just business. Not really much better.

Or, if he pushed past what he was feeling and looked at the facts, he could see the most likely outcome. Naruto had just got done with what was supposedly his graduation party, for a graduation exam he did not take. His hospital room clock was off by almost five hours. In his experience, hospital clocks are ever hardly wrong unless tampered with. If the hospital clock had been correct, he would have come straight to the tower instead of rushing back and forth between his apartment, the academy, and then idling around talking to that jonin who happened upon him in the classroom.

The assassination order was his graduation test. Naruto could feel his lips twitching upwards slightly. This crazy old fool had given him an incredibly dangerous graduation exam, probably on a whim. He would get him back for that eventually. Taking a few puffs of his own new pipe, Naruto let himself relax again, trying and failing to make smoke rings as he had seen Hiruzen do every once in awhile.

"You're taking this very well Naruto. Would you like to share your thoughts?" Hiruzen asked. He was smirking slightly.

"I've trusted you my entire life Jiji, if I can't trust you then I don't know who I can trust. An assassination for a genin exam seems like a little much but I can't really complain about passing can I?" Naruto stared him hard in the eyes. It was actually pretty intimidating, the moon was glinting against his pupils and the smoke was distorting it. Hiruzen was proud. He had made the right decision.

"This is why you passed. You didn't hesitate. You killed an opponent who was more skilled, who was stronger, and who had more experience than you. He may have been an average chunin in every sense of the phrase, but he would have still killed any other genin. Congratulations my boy. Welcome to the ranks." Hiruzen slid a hitai-ate across the desk towards his young friend. Naruto instantly slid the cloth around his hat so that it was proudly displayed to the world. He would have to look into getting it sown on.

The Third snorted. "I had a feeling you would put it there."

Naruto gave him a grin. "All of the best have something that set them apart don't they?"

They couldn't help but smile and laugh as the tension seeped out of the room. The duo continued to enjoy smoking their pipes together. Eventually everything caught up to Naruto and he sank into his chair deeply.

"Tired?" Hiruzen pondered.

Naruto shook his head. "I was thinking about Mizuki. I really killed him huh?" Hiruzen gave him a look of understanding.

"Too many organs were cut, it also appears that Mizuki wasn't very good about keeping hospital dates, he wasn't healthy in the first place." He took a few moments to collect his thoughts. "How do you feel Naruto? About taking a life. Do not be ashamed of being sad, even for a traitor."

Biting his lip gently, Naruto put his hat in his lap. "It's not that I'm sad. Sad I could understand. So many shinobi talk about the fear and the sadness and the guilt they feel when they first kill. I'm...not getting that feeling..." He trailed off slowly. If Hiruzen was surprised he didn't show it.

"What is it you feel?" The Hokage questioned.

Naruto gave a shallow bark of a laugh. "Pity. I feel pity. I don't know why I feel that way. Shouldn't I be punching walls and throwing up while calling myself a monster or something? How can I feel pity as if he was some sort of ant?" The boy questioned almost to himself. He hardly even noticed when the Hokage came from around the desk to squeeze his shoulder.

"Naruto. My boy. You, I, every single shinobi and kunoichi in this village. We _are_ monsters." Naruto's head shot up to look at his leader.

"The darkness is our domain and the light is just a canvas for our atrocities. It does not mean we cannot love, have families and camaraderie with our brothers and sisters in arms. It does not mean we can not have empathy or sympathy for those we see out in the world, even enemies. It does not mean we cannot feel and be content with peace, but when the hitai-ate goes on, and our weapons are adjusted. We are monsters. We don't let our feelings rule us, we rule our emotions to rule the battlefield. In this way, we protect the things we cherish most." His leader tapped the still lit pipe out into his hand, the embers shining brightly in the darkness of the room.

"The will of fire. A blazing inferno, incinerating our enemies like a demon born from the sun. Yet, in it's nature it will also warm those we wish to protect in the darkest of nights. Shielding them in our stead when we cannot stand over them like some dark sentinel. I have believed in this for quite some time. I always saw it in you as well, my boy." His eyes shone brightly against the moon, not unlike Naruto's had just a few moments before. He saw so much of himself in this boy.

Naruto was enthralled. He had always been close to Jiji- No, to the Hokage of Konoha. This though, was something else entirely. This was another side of Sarutobi Hiruzen that he felt hadn't been seen for years. Naruto would take his lessons to heart, just as always. Who would selfishly throw away such wisdom?

The Third looked out of his window to see his village, clouds had moved over the moon and shrouded it in darkness. "Some of my ninja cannot accept this fact, they like the thought of protecting and being the good guy. The Fourth could not accept this fact of mine either. A strong shinobi he was, but Namikaze Minato was constantly trying to hold onto that humanity he thought he had. He was always hesitating. Just happened to be too fast for it to matter most of the time." Hiruzen muttered.

Naruto stood up next to the old kage. Looking out into the village. Young and old contemplated as they looked over the only home they ever knew.

"If we are all monsters...why then do I still feel pity? Where does the man in me end and the monster begin?" Naruto spoke out softly.

Hiruzen smiled.

"End? The man in you will never end Naruto, neither will the monster in you simply begin. You are one in the same, the monster in you can slaughter an entire platoon of shinobi. The man in you can leave some alive after you are done fighting. However, can you really differentiate the two? When you walk away from those shivering, crying men, was it really the man in you who did so? How can you be so sure it wasn't the man slaughtering the shinobi and the monster leaving them alive as a warning?"

Shaking his head the old man turned his gaze down to the boy. "Remember what I said. We are monsters. We can still love, we can still feel, just like a man. What you need to do is understand that you can't ever get rid of or even separate them. You must accept them for that is who you truly are. The acceptance will come one day. You'll know it when you feel it."

Naruto took a moment to mull over it in his head. It was a lot of information to take at once. "And the pity?" Naruto reiterated.

"The pity will always be there." Hiruzen said. "It isn't what you think though. You and I are very similar Naruto, and if you are anything like me, then that pity isn't because you think of them as ants. You feel pity, because if they hadn't made the choices they did, they wouldn't have come face to face with you. They wouldn't have died by your hand." Naruto frowned as he crossed his arms.

"You're saying that I pity them for being faced against me? That makes sense for you and any other kage rank ninja who can just destroy hordes of soldiers but for a genin like me?" He asked.

Hiruzen felt his lips twitch upward.

"That is exactly what I'm saying. I wasn't always The Professor you know? There was a time where I was just a weak child in a world full of war. The feeling was still there though. I believe it comes from inner confidence. Whether you know you have it or not." Trusting the Third's judgment he just nodded. Morning would be coming soon, Naruto figured he should probably get at least some sleep tonight. They spoke for a couple more minutes before saying their goodbyes. As Naruto was about to leap out of the window Hiruzen called out to him once more.

"Tomorrow your team is meeting at training ground eight. Your jonin sensei is Kanden Tekuno." Naruto took a few moments to stare at him, then he broke into a hysterical laughter that lasted until he got back home.

* * *

Hiruzen stared out the window that Naruto had exited from. "...Was it something I said?"

* * *

I basically got what I wanted across in this chapter. So how was it? I'm trying to take it a little slow right now but I'll be picking up speed once I get the general set up out of the way. Leave me some questions and reviews, I enjoy them immensely and they help me decide how to best approach my ideas. Also should you notice a problem don't hesitate to bring it up.(Like grammar, opinion and preference is another matter entirely)

Til' next time.


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